J and I purchased a shirt each for wearing while we travel through South East Asia. We’ll be travelling very light, so we need to pack clothing that’s so practical it’s almost laughable. Clothing with features that would be completely irrelevant in Sydney – like back vents for example. Things that you can wash by hand in a sink and have it dry in just a few hours, ready to be worn for the 30th day straight. My shirt is blue, long sleeved, and looks like my mother dressed me in chambray for a family photo in 1990. But, it’s actually a really nice fit, and surprisingly comfortable. J however was not so lucky. Thanks to the Amazon sizing charts it’s a size too big for him. That probably wouldn’t have been too bad if the shirt didn’t also come with two huge, incredibly unflattering chest pockets. J and I took one look at the shirt on and decided that the pockets had to go. They weren’t much use anyway – and since we’ll have daypacks with us there’s really no need to be carrying anything in shirt pockets. I took to them with my quick unpick, carefully removing each stitch so as not to leave any visible marks or holes. Now you wouldn’t even know that there had ever been pockets on the shirt, and it looks so much better!

The hoarding maybe-that-will-come-in-handy-one-day part of my personality decided to put the two removed pockets into my fabric stash until I decided what to do with them. After pulling them out last night and having another look at them I decided that they would make great little pouches to keep our electronic cables in while we travel. I cut out black felt for the backing pieces of the pouches and sewed around the edges with blanket stitch. I incorporated the original pocket closure on one pouch by sewing it onto the felt, and with the other I added snap closures. Each pocket took me about an hour to complete. Now we can store all of our chargers in one spot, and we wont have to go rummaging through our bags only to find a tangled mess of cables at the botton of the pack!

Today I jumped on my trusty old bike and we headed to Glebe together to see my friend Satomi. Satomi gave my hair a much needed trim and tidied up my somewhat unruly fringe. It’s amazing how much better I feel now that my bangs have been tamed again, thanks Satomi!

Dress: Op-shopped, shortened, taken in. Total cost $4. This dress wasn’t always so cute. You can read more about it’s transition from cast-away tent to much beloved frock here.

If you’d like to sponsor me for my Frocktober challenge please head here to donate. My registration number is 664999.

Today’s Frock is one that I made for myself last year for Frocktober. I wear it far more often than I ever thought that I would, which is a nice surprise. It’s super comfortable, and goes really well with my bright pink tights!

Dress: Wool crepe, handmade by me.
Cardigan: Ruby, NZ

If you’d like to sponsor me for my Frocktober challenge please head here to donate. My registration number is 664999.

Today’s dress is one that I made for myself last year. To be honest, it never quite fitted me properly. I had made it in haste, and with no pattern, so the elastic in the waist bands ended up being way too big. Unflatteringly so. Today I decided to see if I could fix it and make it more wearable, and I have to say that I’m quite pleased with the result.

I started by sewing in the waist elastic by about 4 inches so that it sits where I want it. Then I cut the top 4 inches off and made another elastic band. It fits so much better now, I think I’ll wear it tons this summer. I’m going to wear it with the split up the back now rather than at the side. I went out to get some shots and ended up walking all the way to Paddington and back in it. It’s really comfortable!

Dress: Handmade by me, then fixed by me a year later!
Brooch: Gift from my Mum – I think she got it from a market somewhere in Auckland. As I was putting it on today I accidentally broke off the little plastic diamante from the centre of it. Oops! I may or may not repair it. I quite like it the way it is now actually. I don’t wear it often, as it’s quite big to wear up on my chest. I think it works really well on my dress ‘belt’ though.

You’ll have to excuse my facial expression in the second photo – it’s difficult to pose for a photo when you can see another pedestrian coming along the alley towards you!

If you’d like to sponsor me for my Frocktober challenge please head here to donate. My registration number is 664999.

I picked up this suitcase this morning from Reverse Garbage in Taylor Square. The perfect shade of blue, and just the right size. Small enough for carry-on, but large enough to be useful for storage when I’m not jet-setting around the world. This little beauty set me back the grand total for $8. A total bargain!

I also came home with a pile of upholstery fabric to use for the backs of some new Picnic Blankets. I’m going to be making them again this year to sell for Christmas. Watch this space!

I used a pattern from the Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp. It was good using a pattern for a change. I learnt quite a lot about construction while I was working on it. I think the pattern could have had some better instructions at times, but mostly it was easy to follow.

The fabric that I used to make the Elephant came from my massive stash. I believe this particular piece came from Reverse Garbage. It’s a lovely soft thick knit, wool I think. I must have thrown away the tag when I washed the fabric, so there’s no way to tell really. The fabric inside the ears is the same wool that I used for this Kitty, a present for another little Nephew of mine.

My lovely big Sister was visiting this week, so I gave this little Elephant to her to take home to her Grandson. I hope he likes it!

July 2, 2010

I’ve been indecisive for some time about how to brand and package my soaps for Saponify. After much discussion with friends, customers and family I feel like I have in my head a clear idea and direction for what I want. I want my soap to look like what they are. Handmade. Rustic. Natural. Covering them up with excessive packaging goes against what I want for Saponify and also what I want for this planet. Yesterday I wandered into the most beautiful store called David Met Nicole. I just wanted to stay in the store all day, poring over their collection of vintage stamps. The store is tiny, but filled to the brim with exciting treasures. The sales assistant was so lovely, and helped me to find just the right S for my soaps. It’s a very old letterpress piece, I think that it was from the 1950’s but can’t be sure.

So, what do you think of the new look? Do you love it or do you loathe it?

These little rubber stamps are teaching stamps from schools. How great is that! I’m going to use them on my notes to customers. I need to find ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ stamps next.

Yesterday I noticed that J had nestled Leopold under the bathroom door to stop the draft coming though.

Leopold looked rather uncomfortable with his tail bent at an unnatural angle. Also, upon further inspection I found that he was a little thin for that door, and we would be better with something there that was a bit fatter.

I got to work on the sewing machine and whipped up something more suitable for the door. He’s not a snake you see, more of a slug.

He’s doing an excellent job keeping the cold drafts out of our bedroom, and I can’t help but giggle each time I pass him on the way to the bathroom.

He’s made out of a piece of sample wool I picked up from Reverse Garbage, and stuffed with Polyfil. What do you think we should name him? Suggestions welcome…